Weight Loss Challenge: Sugar and How Sweet it Is

There are lots of different sweeteners on the market today. In fact, there are so many it can be quite confusing. What is natural? If it is organic is that the best? What type of sugar is better?

Sometimes it feels so overwhelming that we just throw up our hands and stick with plain old sugar even though we know it isn't the best for us.

It is important that we know some facts about our options so we can choose the best thing for us. If you are diabetic for example you will want sweeteners that don't raise your blood sugar level, but maybe you don't want to use the artificial stuff...so what's the best choice for you. What if you want to become more natural--going for less processed foods? Or maybe you were inspired by Oprah to go vegan...

I found a great article on various sweeteners that you should keep in your arsenal. Chef Heather Haxo Phillips tells it like it is--even explaining why you might not want to choose some of the more popular, theoretically "healthy" sweeteners like Agave Nectar.

Chef Heather is of the Bay Area phenomenon Cafe Gratitude and she explains what sugar is and gives lots of details about your options in this article.

What is Sugar? Sugar is a pure carbohydrate, a nutrient that supplies energy to the body. The chemical name for sugar is sucrose. Sucrose occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable, as it is the major product of photosynthesis. For a long time, fruit and cane sugars were the most common sweeteners on our table. However, over the past 50 years dozens of sweeteners have been developed. Many of them are very useful for helping us to enjoy the sweet things in life without taking our blood sugar for a roller coaster ride.

Read the entire article here.

Weight Loss Challenge: Lack of Sleep

Sleep is an important component to our having healthy bodies. We all know that. We realize that we function better when we have had ample sleep, when we don't feel the need to pump our bodies full of sugar and caffeine just to keep our eyelids open. But did you know that lack of sleep is a big challenge to our weight loss success?

Researchers are pretty much convinced that the facts that we are getting less sleep and weighing more are related and not merely coincidence. According to a study reported in 2008 there are direct associations between sleep loss and an increased risk of both obesity and diabetes.

Maybe sleeping in isn't such a bad thing after all!

Whether your lack of sleep is because you are trying to fit more into a day that doesn't get any longer (I used to say if I could just give up eating & sleeping maybe I could get it all done--ha!) or you have a sleep disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea, or maybe because you wake up a lot because you are peri-menopausal your body is not getting the restorative benefits it needs from sleep. Notice the word "rest" within "restorative"...while we sleep our body rests and allows it to maintain health and wellness and to heal itself.

Sleep apnea is one of the major causes of lack of sleep. As women, we are more apt to experience sleep apnea after menopause. Interestingly that is also a time when many women gain weight. Sleep apnea appears to be much more widespread than anyone previously thought--many people with the disorder actually are undiagnosed.

Changing your sleep pattern by staying up late or getting up early affects your natural circadian rhythm. Our hormones rise and fall in rhythms throughout the day and night and key hormones Melatonin, cortisol and testosterone are time-based. By shifting our schedules we interrupt our natural hormone balance and that can cause weight gain.

Tomorrow I'll go into more about how lack of sleep negatively impacts our blood sugar and can make us hungrier!

Until then, have a great day and get a good night's sleep!

Aging, Weight Loss and Mental Sharpness

Yesterday I talked about how important getting sufficient protein every day is to our health, our appearance and for weight loss success.

Today I'm going to talk, quite unscientifically, about something that I've observed that I believe is at least partially attributable to NOT getting enough protein on a regular basis.

First, imagine you get up and you wait hours before eating. Maybe you have a cup of coffee or tea. Then perhaps you have some cereal or toast...or something sweeter perhaps. How are feeling about 10:30 or11am? Probably feeling a bit sluggish and a bit foggy mentally. You may even feel that earlier in the day.

What do you do at that point? If you are like most folks you grab some sugar and maybe some (more) caffeine thinking that will solve the problem. And your blood sugar spikes and you do get some energy. Temporarily.

Problem is you are only addressing symptoms, not the real cause.

The cause is that you haven't really fueled your body with the most important thing it needs--protein!

This might not be a big problem if you do this once in a while...but over time what happens is your body loses lean body mass as we talked about yesterday.

I contend that this affects our brain as much as it does the rest of our body. We lose our mental abilities...we become more and more foggy.

My evidence? Well, not a scientific study to be sure, but I have seen it in my own family. Right now I am seeing the results in my mother who is 80 years old...(I wish I could say 80 years "young"...but can't.)

While I recognize we are blessed that she is pretty healthy and doesn't suffer from Alzheimer's or Dementia...I also see this once super-intelligent woman reduced to being in a fog much of the time. What concerns me even more is that on the one hand she recognizes this reduction in her abilities and yet she is not willing or able to help herself do anything about it.

My mother has only rarely been overweight in her life. And when she deemed herself to be "fat" she rigidly dieted. For her it was a "simple" matter of pushing herself away from the table while still hungry. (I inherited neither her metabolism nor her diet discipline.)

Well, my mother has dropped lots of weight over the last couple of years.

The science is that typically for every decade past our 40th year we lose 8% of our lean body mass. That would mean my mom would have 32% less lean body mass than she used to...so if her entire 40 year old 140 pound body was lean body mass (which of course, it wouldn't have been) and we took away 32% of that she would be about 120 pounds today...all things being equal.

Mom is currently about 110 pounds...when a healthy weight for her would be closer to 130-140. It seems as her body gets smaller and smaller so does her mental capacity. So, the notion that one can "never be too thin" is pure fiction...dangerous fiction at that!

My conclusion, as unscientific as it may be, is that she has definitely lost too much weight, especially lean body mass, and that this loss has affected her mental ability...and therefore I for one am going to be doubly sure to eat sufficient protein multiple times a day every day.

Low Carb Diets Can Lead to Weight Gain Not Weight Loss Success

I don't recommend dieting in general, because it is short-term...and achieving healthy, permanent weight loss success is a long-term relationship! Think of dieting as speed dating and weight loss success is going for the golden anniversary of marriage!

I digress...what I wanted to talk about today is low carb diets...short term or long term (if you think of diet in the definition of what you eat as opposed to what you eat to lose weight.)

While I know many people have dropped pounds while on low carb diets there are others who have not...no one diet works for every body.

Where I caution people who ask me about low carb diets is to make sure they understand what carbs are, and why having carbs in our diet is important.

The best and easiest way to reduce your carbs is to focus on the SIMPLE carbohydrates in your diet. That's the "white stuff"--refined white flour and sugar (which does by lots of different names, but that's a whole nother topic!)

These refined simple carbs have no, or extremely little, nutritional value. They truly are empty calories. While they give you some immediate fuel, they also result in a very quick blood sugar drop shortly afterwards. This is the carb craving that so many of us experience...we want the quick sugar boost and we have to keep eating these simple carbs to keep that "high" feeling.

Many people mistakenly think going on low carb diets means they can't have any carbs. First that is next to impossible to achieve. Second, complex carbohydrates are good for us...they provide nutrients we wouldn't get otherwise, they give our bodies fuel, and they give us fiber which keeps our system regular and also helps us feel full.

Another thing about carbs...although I don't count calories, if you do you should know that gram for gram, carbohydrates have fewer calories than protein or fats.

Going on low carb diets if done incorrectly can actually leave you hungry or bored...both of which will backfire in the long run.

So for maximum weight loss success eat plenty of complex carbohydrates. Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes...you will have the energy you need, feel fuller and more satisfied, and be getting a better balance of nutrients your body needs.

How to Survive the Holiday Party Season: 7 Weight Loss Success Tips

Holiday parties aren't generally when people plan to lose weight, but you can avoid piling on pounds over the holidays and still enjoy the festivities by following these 7 simple tips.

1. Eat Before You Go Out
It doesn't have to be much...but you never know if food will be available when you walk in the door, so don't arrive hungry--you're sure to eat more if you do.

2. Pick and Choose
Thoughtfully select from the variety of goodies available. Take your favorites and try a couple new items, but you don't have to eat it all. Start with just a bite and you can always go back for more.

3. Water, Water, Water
Drink at least 2 or 3 glasses of water...plain, sparkling, with lemon...for every glass of alcohol or other holiday drinks like punch or eggnog. It'll help keep your blood levels even and you will be better able to make conscious eating choices.

4. Talk It Up
Enjoy the people at the party. Get away from the buffet table and avoid "liquid courage"...Momma always told you not to talk with your mouth full, so talk...you'll eat less, and you just never know the fascinating people you might meet!

5. Protein Is Your Friend
Be sure to have some protein...bring a little pack of nuts along in case you get in a bind. By having protein you keep your blood sugar even which helps keep you from peaking and then crashing...and wanting to bolster the crash with more carbs.

6. Take a Break
Remember to stop a minute and enjoy the surrounding. Interrupt your feeding frenzy for a few moments and eat up up the sounds and sights of the holidays.

7. Enjoy and Avoid Regret
Overdoing during the party can lead to a pile of regret the morning after. Enjoy the party and follow the first 6 tips and you will likely not have anything to regret. But if you do eat, or drink, more than you planned, beating yourself up the next day won't make it any better.

There you go--7 simple tips to help survive the holiday party season...without gaining weight!

Handling Holiday Feasting Regrets

Hopefully you don't have any regrets over how you spent your Thanksgiving holiday...presuming you are an American, or living in the USA...

After all, that was yesterday, and there is no point wallowing in thoughts of "if only" or "why did I?" Instead, enjoy with fondness the highlights of your day. Celebrations are a part of our lives and are to be enjoyed--before, during, and after!

But if you overdid it a bit...or more than a bit...with the feasting and festivities I do have a few tips for you on your weight loss journey.

If you ate a lot at one sitting...a very common behavior on this 4th Thursday of November...then you may find yourself a bit extra hungry today. On the other extreme, there are folks who ate so much they find themselves still full when they awaken on Black Friday...even if they don't get up at some unbelievable hour to hit the sales!

Another common feeling on the day after any feasting is to want more carbs...the devilish carb cravings can hit us hard when we've broken out of our usual pattern of eating.

The good news is no matter which of these maladies are striking you today, the solution is the same simple 3 steps:

1. Don't think about what you did yesterday with regret. It is over, done, finished. Think about NOW.
2. Eat lean protein with every meal today. Frequent mini-meals or snacks are your best bet. Having some left-over turkey is one good source!
3. If you want to have other left-overs that are higher in simple carbs (like mashed potatoes and gravy, bread stuffing, rolls, or pumpkin pie) do so...just be sure to also have your protein first. This will help keep your blood sugar level, thereby reducing your carb cravings and keeping you from feeling famished.

If you follow these 3 steps you will be able to continue on your path to weight loss success, and you will have the long-term energy and health that you need--instead of a sugar-induced short-term rush!

Crash! Hit By A Truck

The clock reads 5:15pm. It feels like midnight. I feel completely drained, like I've been hit by a truck. My brain is foggy--can't...make...simple...decisions. Suddenly, all I wanted was to eat and sleep.

That's what I wrote the Sunday evening. What hit me wasn't a truck (thank goodness) but I had a crash of another sort. I hadn't really eaten since 8am...not true, I had a Sunday treat at noon...a cup of coffee and a slice of nut and fruit bread. Very little food, and even less protein all day.

Scientifically, my blood sugar tanked...(don't you love it when I use technical jargon?)

Personally, I felt like crap.

This put me into a danger zone--I was fully capable of eating the entire house...not just the contents of the cupboard.

I know better, and it would have been easy to beat myself up for getting myself into that situation...fortunately I chose not to go that route...but I'm telling you, it is a lot easier to make healthy food choices BEFORE the crash. After a crash, you body is screaming for sugar...simple, refined sugars that get you pumping quickly. Trouble is, it sets you up for another crash if you don't combine those carbs with protein.

I used to have these crashes pretty frequently. I was good at pushing through and ignoring my body's signals...hunger, pain, fatigue. And I was also good at pushing through the "full" signals too. Ignoring all those signals is how I got to be 300 pounds.

I'm typically much more conscious about eating on a regular basis. That is one of the tools I've used to drop 125 pounds. Small, frequent meals or snacks keep my blood sugar up and my body operating efficiently. With my blood sugar up level I don't have to use "willpower" to eat right. Top that off, I have better energy--and I'm more pleasant to be around, too.

Moral of the story: if weight loss success is your idea of a happy ending--don't forget to eat!

Weight Loss Tip: How Sweet It Is

I was in Denver with a friend, starving...I didn't follow my own advice--I wasn't prepared with my bag of nuts or other healthy snack. Hey, it happens! That is real life!

So we stopped by a fast food restaurant...I rarely go to them, but have found that there are some choices that I don't mind eating once in a while.

We decided to share a sandwich and a drink...not being soda fans we ordered an iced tea. I had never ordered tea there before...the sign said "fresh brewed"...so I was anticipating a nice thirst quenching refreshing drink.

My first reaction was, I think they gave me the wrong size...I ordered a "medium" and got something back that was at least 32 ounces...I wonder how big a large is? Then I took a sip...

OMG! I was shocked! It was SO sweet. I don't know how anyone can drink that stuff...wow!

I learned my lesson...always ask if the tea is presweetened...don't assume that it isn't. (You know the saying about what happens when you assume don't you? Well it definitely made an a$$ out of me the other day!)

With all the information out there about the high calorie content of fast food meals, the increase in healthier choices like grilled chicken and salads without dressing, I never dreamt that they would pour all that sugar in the drink.

Neither of us could drink the tea. We had driven away to enjoy our meal and watch the sunset so I didn't get a chance to find out if they have an unsweetened version.

Down the drain the drink went. Not only would that drink NOT quench my thirst, if I had consumed it, it would have spiked my blood sugar and I would have felt AWFUL...better to dump it!

My weight loss tip--ask if the tea (or coffee or whatever) is presweetened. If it is 1) pass or 2) ask for a small quantity in a larger cup and then add lots of water!

You'll save a couple hundred calories on the drink, plus you won't spike your blood sugar as badly so you won't be inclined to binge later--end result is lots of calories saved!